Luxury travel news this week: Coronavirus update

Here’s a round-up of luxury travel stories that have caught the eye this week. To make sure you receive these new weekly alerts in your web browser, please click on the red bell icon in the bottom right hand corner of the page and click ‘subscribe’ (works on desktop only – for other ways to subscribe, please click here). This will also alert you to any other posts on the blog. Should you wish, you can unsubscribe at any time, by clicking on the icon again and selecting ‘unsubscribe’.

Tourists being kept under coronavirus quarantine at luxury Maldives resort

While there’s no doubt that having your vacation interrupted by a fast-spreading virus that’s infected more than 108,000 globally and killed over 3,800 is a major inconvenience, there are surely worse places to be confined than a luxury Maldives resort. Over the weekend, the Indian Ocean island nation was added to the ever-growing list of countries with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus after two staff members at the Kuredu Island Resort & Spa, located on the northern reef of Lhaviyani Atoll, tested positive for the virus… [read more]

Private jets are taking off because of coronavirus

So your flight’s canceled, but you need to get home or to that important business meeting ASAP. Perhaps you’re just nervous about transiting through a busy airport with other passengers. Most of us are handling coronavirus-related disruption by staying put, but for those in a travel predicament with dollars to burn, there’s an increasingly popular alternative: private jets. While much of the travel industry has been suffering as the infection spreads globally, the private jet industry has apparently been on a roll… [read more]

In pictures: see eerie pictures of the world’s most popular cultural sites emptied by the coronavirus

On the first day of Italy’s national emergency-mandated quarantine, the country’s most famous landmarks are eerily devoid of life. On Monday, Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte declared the “whole of Italy will become a protected zone,” instituting travel restrictions that can be avoided only for work or health emergencies. Around the world, countries are experiencing striking declines in tourism as people have been instructed to avoid large groups and limit travel… [read more]

Coronavirus travel: is this your chance to book the cheapest vacation ever?

As the coronavirus pandemic intensifies around the world, many travelers are canceling trips and hunkering down at home while cruise lines from Princess to Viking are suspending operations, Disney World and Disneyland are closing and airlines are slashing routes. But the savviest travelers are seizing this opportunity to take advantage of cheap travel deals on hotels, airlines, cruises and more—or just looking for ways to escape from reality… [read more]

What the wealthy are buying to protect themselves from the coronavirus

Some people have found a measure of reassurance in these coronavirus days by stocking up on hand sanitiser and toilet paper. For others, peace comes with the purchase of a $4,995 (Dh18,344) emergency go-bag, outfitted with “Bond-like gadgets” and custom monogramming…. [read more]

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